Antonio Sanz has defended his client over his poor scoring record since his £50 million move from Liverpool.

"The reading I make of all this, and that we understand is the right one, is that it is purely a footballing question," Sanz told the Financial Times. "Two coaches at Chelsea in the year Fernando has been there have not helped either. It has obliged him in each case to adapt to different styles of play from the one under which he had thrived at Liverpool.

"Fernando is an intelligent, cerebral man who is neither corrupted by success nor destroyed by failure. His family is his refuge and he is not the kind of person who likes to show himself off at prize-giving ceremonies or parties. What he most likes is to visit his parents in Madrid or be quietly at home in Cobham with his wife and kids."